I'll Be Back Soon
by UPlover
Summary: Carl is trapped and needs to trust Russell so he can find him help. Will Russell return? I do not own UP.
1. Chapter 1

"Let's see if we can find that rose Mr. Fredricksen! We're not going back until we find it!" Russell shouted as he ran through the woods.  
"We've been searching for almost two hours Russell, everyone must be done with the scavenger hunt." Carl said so exhausted from walking all around the woods. He saw everybody running back to the camp almost half an house ago with all their things from the scavenger hunt.  
"We have to find that rose and then we'll be done." Russell said with his book out trying to figure out what a rose looked like.  
"Carl sighed rolling his eyes. "Russell you do know what a rose looks like right?"  
"You never know they make look different."  
Carl smiled. He had fun finding the objects in the woods, it was a big exercise. He was so glad that he agreed to this. He hopes to take a nice long nap once they finally got home.  
Carl turned his head and saw a red rose across a muddy looking stream.  
"Russell look, there's a rose!"  
Russell hopped in joy. "We found everything!"  
"You know we won't be in first place since we took the longest."  
"Who cares, we had fun together didn't we?"  
Carl walked over first to get it only to have his foot squelch into thick mud.  
"Better leave this to me Russell, it's a bit muddy."  
Carl pulled his foot.  
It was stuck.  
His front foot was sinking into the mud a bit.  
The more he pulled each foot the more they both got stuck in the mud.  
"Do you want help Mr. Fredricksen?" Russell asked.  
"No I'm fine. I can do it."  
Carl finally pulled his back leg free and set it down on more harder ground. Carl bent down to his front leg and began pulling it until it finally came free. He moved to the side of the muddy stream where the earth was hard.  
"We could find a rose somewhere else Mr. Fredricksen, it looks too muddy." Russell said looking at the dark gooey mud that lied ahead of Carl.  
"It'll be fine Russell, I'll just cross over it quickly and we'll head back to the camp."  
Carl wanted to try and make a big jump to the other side. If he made a fast jump he'd only have to step in the wet mud once.  
Carl leaped.  
Both his knees disappeared.  
"Mr. Fredricksen!" Russell shouted.  
"Don't come near it Russell. I think I can get out." Carl told the boy as he struggled to turn around. It wasn't easy to turn around in the mud since it had his legs so tightly. When he could finally see Russell in front of him he felt something weird happen. He looked down seeing that his thighs were being taken into the mud.  
Carl leaned over and gripped the hard ground and tried to pull himself out. He was stuck tightly unable to move his legs. He stood himself back up only to sink down to his hips.  
"Russell help me!" Carl yelled nervously not knowing what was happening.  
"Mr. Fredricksen, how would you describe this mud?" Russell asked holding his wilderness explorer book in front of him.  
"Uh, it feels like a loose patch of soft, liquidly earth that keeps pulling me under no matter how little of a move a make."  
Russell's face paled as he put his book down. "Mr. Fredricksen you're in quicksand."  
Carl's heart began pounding as soon as he heard that word. This was the last thing he'd ever find himself in.  
"Russell get me out of here." Carl said as calmly as he could.  
Russell read through his book again. "You and I both aren't strong enough Mr. Fredricksen. We need to get the others to help you."  
Carl sighed knowing that was true. No matter how much he did not want to be left alone in this bog he needs to send Russell for help.  
"Russell listen to me, I trust you to do this for me, run back and find the group and get them to help me."  
Russell looked frightened at Carl. "Wh-What if..."  
"Don't think about that Russell. Please?"  
Russell looked back off into the woods. How far were they into the woods?  
"Okay. I'll be back soon. Don't struggle too much and just stay still. I won't be gone long."  
Carl watched him disappear.  
He'll be back and I'll be okay.  
Carl repeated that over and over in his head as he relaxed and shut his eyes so he couldn't watch himself sink. He spread his arms out across the mud making sure they wouldn't get stuck and took deep breaths.


	2. Chapter 2

Russell ran all through the woods ducking under tree limbs and hopping over rocks. Was it really this far to get to the campsite?  
He should have just told Carl that it wasn't worth it and just have gone back to the camp and admit that they lost. Many people probably didn't find a rose. A rose was too hard to find in the woods.  
He looked over his shoulder. What was that rustling?  
Russell slammed into a tree and knocked himself out.

Carl opened his eyes. He felt his arms touch the surface of the mud.  
He was at his chest.  
Russell will be back and I will be fine.  
The mud was pressing against his chest making it harder to breathe. He'd been here for such a long time it seemed.  
A slow rise of panic was rising but he forced it down not wanting to cause himself to panic. Panicking would get himself into trouble and he didn't want that to happen.  
Slowly he leaned forward just a bit to look down the path.  
Nothing.  
That one little move caused him to sink further.  
Carl swallowed his scream and tried to stop himself from shaking. The mud was so cold and was so scarred that it caused him to shake.  
He closed his eyes once more trying to calm himself after he watched his last button disappeared under the mud.  
"Please hurry Russell." Carl whispered.  
He opened his eyes back up and turned his head to see a vine close to the bog of mud.


End file.
